“Sometimes it feels like you're driving a forklift”: Shane van Gisbergen on his experience of driving NASCAR cars so far

Former Supercars Champion Shane van Gisbergen recently shared his learnings about the NASCAR stock cars. Gisbergen drives full-time for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series, piloting the #97 Chevy Camaro.

Last year, on the inaugural Chicago Street Course, the New Zealander bagged his maiden win in the Cup Series on his debut, driving for Trackhouse Racing. He became the first driver in 60 years to win on the debut. After his one-off race which turned into a win last season, Gisbergen was offered another chance to race at Indianapolis Motorspeedway where he finished P10 in the #91 Chevy.

The 35-year-old Shane van Gisbergen proved his skills and experience on the Next-Gen cars and ultimately landed a deal with Trackhouse Racing in partnership with Kaulig Racing to adapt on the oval tracks of the Xfinity Series.

In a recent conversation, #97 Gisbergen talked about the unfamiliarity and his experience of driving Next-Gen cars. He said [via ESPN]:

"Sometimes it feels like you're driving a forklift, [I've learned] a huge amount of things, like just how funky the Xfinity car is to drive, The biggest thing is that the Cup car, it feels like a race car. It feels like every other car I've driven around the world, with the aero and the rear end. It's a huge evolution of NASCAR, I guess, to go the whole different route that they have. Even on the oval, it kind of feels like a normal car.

"Whereas the Xfinity car, it's only specific to oval racing, basically. The style of car that has been designed and developed for years, that NASCAR type of stock car. The rear end is interesting, how it moves around. I've never driven a car like that," Gisbergen added.

In his NASCAR career, Shane van Gisbergen has accumulated a total of three wins - one in the Cup Series and two wins in his first full-time season in the Xfinity Series. However, the challenges faced by van Gisbergen are two-fold, one being the NASCAR cars and the other the oval tracks, as the Auckland native has only won on road courses in NASCAR's second-tier division.

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Shane van Gisbergen's performance in the 2024 Xfinity Series season

The #97 Chevy driver Shane van Gisbergen has managed two consecutive wins in the Xfinity Series earlier on Portland International Speedway and Sonoma Raceway, albeit on road courses.

In the aforementioned interview, Gisbergen talked about his challenges competing on the oval tracks. He said:

"The ovals are very, very, very difficult. But I feel like I'm getting better and better, finishing the races with straight cars and starting to get more and more competitive. Road courses are [my] strength, but I don't know if ovals are a weakness. We're obviously not running at the very front, but getting better and better and learning a lot. So it's kind of about where we expect it to be."

Currently, Shane van Gisbergen sits at P12 in the overall Xfinity Series standings. Apart from two wins, he has three top-fives and four top-tens in 15 starts in the 2024 Cup Series season as NASCAR heads toward the Ambetter Health 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this Saturday.